Altun Ha, Birdwatching at Crooked Tree V.i.V.
Description
On August 22, 1998, Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary was declared Belize's first Ramsar site based on the wetland's significance, especially as waterfowl habitat. the Lagoon host of hundreds of Birds especially during the dry season, featuring Storks, herons, egrets, kites, hawks, parrots and so much more, the maya site of Altun Ha can be viewed year round, rain or shine. The slow drive takes you around the City of Belize, view the BELIZE sign, colonial style architure residences, Lindberg Landing, fruit trees, flowering plants, birds, the Old Belize River, rural communities, small farms, various species of Birds, unique native trees and plants, orchids and bromeliads, tour the Ancient city of Altun Ha, known for its ceremonial Temples with mask of gods, sacrificial altar and many findings of priestly tombs containing a wealth of artifacts. Go up several temples. We pick up and drop off at the Airport, Cruiseport. hotels, water taxi, municipal airport
Tour Options
Itinerary
The drive passes thru rural villages, grassland savannah, mangrove forest and the Rain Forest and arriving at the Maya Pyramids of Altun Ha. Then we walk to this first Plaza we see and share information of the findings of the archaeological excavations that occurred during 1964 to 1974 Field seasons. The tour continues to the second plaza featuring the residential area where excavations found skeleton remains in the rooms and artefacts such as polychrome vessels. Then the highlight of the day, approaching the Sun Temple with mask of gods and at the summit the pyramid is the sacrificial altar. the guide shares more information of the vast wealth of findings found inside this structure including our most precious stone the Jade Head, the largest carved object found in the maya world. After enjoying the views from up top, it’s time to come back down, return to the van for the drive back to the city.
On August 22, 1998, Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary was declared Belize's first Ramsar site based on the wetland's significance, especially as waterfowl habitat. The Jabiru stork is Crooked Tree's most famous resident. Belize has the largest nesting population of these great birds in all of Central America. Jabiru storks arrive in November to nest in the lowland pine savannas. Two pairs of Jabiru storks are known to nest within the Sanctuary. After the young fledge, in April and May, the birds from the northern and central parts of Belize congregate at Crooked Tree lagoons. When the rains come, the birds leave
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
The cruise tenders arrive at FSTV passenger terminal and giftshops, proceed thru Terminal 1 to the exit, where street side you will see the V.i.V. guide and sign. See you soon.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- bring refillable water bottles, disposable ones are not allowed on reserves
- bring insect repellant, hats, shades, camera, binoculars
- bring poncho, umbrella, change of clothing for rainy day visit
- wear proper footwear for walking on uneven paths, no flip flops
Reviews(6)
Great your, lots to see, wonderful history. I love that you still could climb the ruins, they take very good care of them.
Our tour guide Fab was so very knowledgeable, He was also very informative. There was nothing he didn’t know. He was like an encyclopedia. We spent quite a long time at the ruins and it was amazing! I would highly recommend the small group tour as we were in our own van with the guide.
Fantastic, thanks for the review and thanks for choosing us.
We stopped in Belize on a cruise, and this was an excellent tour of the ruins. Mr. Brown picked us up at the cruise terminal, and gave us the history of Belize as we drove out to Altun Ha. The private tour was perfect, it made it easy to accommodate my elderly father as well as my 3 year old nephew. We were worried about making it back on the ship in time, but Mr. Brown handled the tour seamlessly. Highly recommend!
The private tour with Abner is the route to go. Abner’s expertise of the surrounding area (country) and ruins lead to an amazing conversation throughout the whole tour. He is very personable, kind and catered to every need that we had. We enjoyed the ruins also… “Hi Abner”, Joe and Lynn
This was such a great tour! They picked us up from the hotel promptly. The drive felt so short to the site because there was lot to see on the way. Our guide was great, he gave us alot of information and led us safetly up the structures. Sometimes slowly because they're definitely tall! The tour in total was roughly 3 hours which gave us alot of time in the day to go see other parts of Belize.
We got to climb the ruins and heard so many birds!!! Learned so much about Mayan civilization. It was surreal and an incredible experience
